Top 10 Pumpkin Recipes

We've already done one fall recipe series with apples, but with the bite of late fall already hitting us, and every coffee shop pulling out their Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Pumpkin Pies gracing the shelves of every grocery store and bakery, we felt it was time to pull out a pumpkin recipe post! Enjoy, and let us know which are your favorites in the comments!

Pumpkin Fudge

 This pumpkin flavored fudge looks positively delicious, and with a fairly easy recipe it's easy to see why this pumpkin fudge could become a fall favorite!

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

 This list wouldn't be complete without the classic pumpkin pie. However, with over 1,000 positive reviews- it's sure to become your favorite. Look through the user picture for great presentation ideas as well! We love the simple crust cutouts to give your pie a little fall flair!

Pumpkin Garlic Knots

 Everybody loves garlic bread. This playful adaptation adds undertones of pumpkin to a tried and true classic.

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

Another classic with a twist,  this is a great fall version of the classic comfort food. We recommend checking out some of the reviews, as they have some pretty great ideas for making it even better!

Pumpkin Latte Coffee Cake

On chilly fall days not much can beat a warm breakfast. This coffee cake brings the fall flavor into the fall breakfast food. It's a fun twist with a delicious coffee drizzle! This one is a bit of  long recipe to cook, but if you cook it the day before and then warm it up in the morning it's a perfect wake up call!

Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Creme Sauce

Talk about a twist! These enchiladas are delicious though. A great change up to your typical dinner!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

 A favorite fall snack, this classic recipe is a nice reminder for those who are a bit out of practice. For added flavor feel free to add your own seasonings, like chili powder for a bit of spice or a dash of seasoning salt for an all around great taste!

Roast Pumpkin and Feta Risotto

 The picture above even puts the finished dish in a pumpkin! What a festive way to serve! If you like a risotto this dish is sure to be a classic.

Pumpkin Chili

 This is yet another twist on a classic, but it makes perfect sense, since chili season starts right around the time pumpkins come into season!

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

This is your classic oatmeal baked in a hollowed out pumpkin, then you can serve it out of the pumpkin. The flavor seeps into an already delicious oatmeal. You can't go wrong with this cool weather breakfast!

Our Favorite Apple Recipes for the Fall

It's officially fall, which means apple picking season has begun! While you may be tempted to take the easy way out and just eat your apple plain and raw (though still delicious), these recipes might just sway you. Here are some of our favorite apple recipes for the fall, and we even have one for every meal time!

Find the Recipe Here

 These apple, chicken, and sage sausage patties are a little strange to think about, but the taste will blow you away! It's a great way to incorporate apples in an unusual way! Yum. What a great addition to the breakfast table.

Find the Recipe Here

 This Apple Cinnamon bread braid has us drooling at first site. Great for a Sunday morning breakfast that's sure to please the whole family!

Find the Recipe Here

 Apple sauce is great for all meal times, and homemade apple sauce is even better! This easy recipe will have you making all the applesauce you could eat, and it only takes 30 minutes!

Find the Recipe Here

 Few things can sate a crunchy urge like chips, but these oven baked apple chips will do the trick without the negative impact on your waistline! It doesn't hurt that they're pretty tasty.

Find the Recipe Here

 What apple recipe would be complete without a pie? This pie isn't just a plain apple pie, it's a toffee apple pie! It's sure to please both new and old apple pie lovers!

Find the Recipe Here

 Few things start a chilly morning off as well as homemade oatmeal. This blueberry apple pie spice oatmeal is sure to do the trick!

Find the Recipe Here

Granola bars are great, but how many of us take the time to make them at home when you can easily pick up a package at the store? Well, these granola bars may have you trying your hand at homemade. These are sure to be popular with even a picky eater!

Find the Recipe Here

 Cider is another recipe that is a must have on this list. This recipe is easy, you just pop everything into your slow cooker and let it do all the work! Yum.

Find the Recipe Here

 Cinnamon-Apple Pork Chops are a bit of a favorite in the area of Iowa that we're from, and once you've had one you'll see why! They're delicious! This recipe even uses reduced-fat butter for everyone watching their waists.

Find the Recipe Here

This caramel apple cake is another one that's sure to please, as it looks simply decadent.

Do you have any great apple recipes? Be sure to link them in the comments for us to check them out!

Top 10 Fall DIYs

With labor day and a 3 day weekend starting our week, it's easy to get in the spirit of fall, even with the 100 degree weather! If you're ready to start prepping your home for fall look no further! We have a special blog with our top 10 fall DIYs!

View Tutorial Here

This DIY is Pottery Barn, with an original twist! The original DIY-er found something similar to this in Pottery Barn, but decided to make her own and put her initial on it as well! How fun!

View Tutorial Here

This is another tutorial that someone saw in a store and decided to give it a go on their own. This burlap  tablecloth tutorial is a fun and edgy twist to traditional turkey day decor, and you can personalize it all you want this way!

View Tutorial Here

These candles are a subtle and trendy way to pay homage to the fall classic- candy corn! Plus, you could easily use this tutorial with different colors to create all sorts of fun candles!

View Tutorial Here

 This is another tribute to candy corn, but this time the candy corn is a little more involved! This fun display can easily be changed to fit the season. Let's face it, lots of our holidays are associated with sweets and colors, so you could easily change out the candy for something appropriate for the season (If you can manage to keep it in the container the whole season)! Plus this could easily be a recycling craft if you used bottles that you already have.

View Tutorial Here

 This craft is obviously a recycling craft for all of your left over glass bottles. The original DIY-er did another ghost with a soy sauce bottle as well, although she added that the top was not as nice looking as the wine bottles. These fun decorations are cheap and chic and can easily spice up your home for the fall.

View Tutorial Here

We're a sucker for planters, and with how warm it's staying outside, maybe we'll have warmth all season long. This pumpkin is a stylish and fun way to show your fall spirit and keep your plants going!

View Tutorial Here

This is a quick and easy DIY that is sure to leave your house smelling fantastic! It also proves to be a cute decoration, so it's a win on all fronts!

View Tutorial Here

 This tutorial is for some fun seasonal coasters! Light stitching required, but it's worth it for these adorable coasters!

View Tutorial Here

Modge Podge got extremely popular this summer, and it looks like the trend will be continuing into fall, especially with this cute modern looking wreath!

View Tutorial Here

This last tutorial is a little more artsy, it's a DIY for some accent artwork especially for this windy season. This DIY perfectly captures the feeling of a windy fall day!

Those are our top 10, what are yours? Which DIY is your favorite?

How to Start Preparing Your Garden for Fall

Fall is fast approaching and after a rough summer, you'll want to prepare your garden for the fall even more. There are a few things you can start doing now to make sure you're ready for the upcoming season.

1) Maintain your landscape: Fall is the perfect time to clean up and maintain your garden. If a plant is completely dead, this might be the time to deal with that. It's also a great time to fill in spaces with new plants like shrubs. You can also prepare your vegetable garden for cooler weather with cool weather plants. It's also a good time to re-apply compost to make sure that your plants have plenty of nutrients.

2) Deal with your potted plants: If you were meaning to move your potted plants to the ground all summer, get that done with now. For more fragil plants that may not survive the winter or which thrive indoor, finding an indoor home for your potted plants in crucial. Remember that potted herbs can still do well inside as long as they have access to plenty of natural light.

3) Make room for your outdoor furniture: You shed or lawn and garden room was probably getting crowded all summer, but now is the time to clean out and reorganize so you can move your garden or patio furniture indoors if it isn't weatherproof for the winter.

4) Do some gardening tool maintenance: Garden tools are your reliable friends during the summer, but if you don't care for them properly you could find them rusting next spring. Make sure you take proper care for each of your tools and store them in an appropriate place so they can continue to work next year.

5) Take stock of what did and didn't work for you: Gardening is a learning process, and, like any learning process, you should make sure you take good notes. If one of your plants did exceptionally well this year, document it and figure out why. If one did very poorly make sure you do the same.